(AFP) Teachers have criticised a call from the deputy education minister for "rostered" pregnancies to minimise staff shortages, saying there are some things in life you just can't plan.

Deputy Education Minister Aziz Samsuddin had said head teachers and teachers should draw up a schedule so teachers could take turns in getting pregnant.

They should time their pregnancies so they could deliver in school holidays, Aziz said, noting that 65 percent of educators are women.

But his call got a frosty reception from teachers quoted by newspapers today.

"He (Aziz) is infringing personal rights... one cannot plan when to have babies as this is a natural thing," said S Sundralingam, a branch secretary of the National Union of the Teaching Profession.

Siva Subramaniam, the union secretary-general, was quoted by The Star as saying retired teachers should be employed as substitutes rather than encroaching on women's reproductive rights.

Personal matter

Teacher Azizah Mohamad said pregnancy planning was a personal matter and teachers should not be forced to discuss their intimate plans with school heads.

The Consumers Association of Penang reportedly described the suggestion by Aziz as inhuman.

"Work must be planned to suit pregnancy and not the other way around," its president SM Mohamad Idris was quoted by the Star as saying.

Education Minister Musa Mohamad refused to be drawn into the controversy over the remarks by his deputy Aziz.

"That's only his personal opinion," Musa told reporters when asked about the "rostered" pregnancies proposal.